Judges at the International Criminal Court on Thursday said Ivory Coast must hand over Simone Gbagbo, the wife of former president Laurent Gbagbo, to stand trial in The Hague on charges of crimes against humanity.
Laurent Gbagbo and an associate, Charles Ble Goude, are already in the ICC’s detention centre in the Netherlands, but Ivory Coast has refused to hand over Simone Gbagbo, saying it will try her on charges including genocide in a domestic court, Reuters reports.
All three are accused of plunging the country into a civil war, in which 3,000 people died, rather than relinquish Gbagbo’s grip on power after he lost a 2010 presidential elections to current President Alassane Ouattara.
The former first lady, who had been under house arrest, was brought to the commercial capital Abidjan last week ahead of her expected trial.
The ICC is not allowed to try cases if domestic authorities are doing the job, but the judges said Ivory Coast had not charged her for the same crimes.
“We have already expressed our position on this matter, but I will come back to you on our stance following this new request,” Ivory Coast government spokesman, Bruno Kone said.
If Ivory Coast continues to refuse, judges could refer the matter to the court’s 122 member states, which may then decide to impose sanctions.
In a separate decision also announced on Thursday, ICC judges confirmed four charges of crimes against humanity against Ble Goude, former leader of the Young Patriots street militia and member of Gbagbo’s last, unrecognized cabinet.
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